Have you seen the news and hype over Kelly Slater Aerials at Bells? And yes for a surfer they are Amazing
, (This is not about bagging surfing or Kelly, but about the invisability of windsurfing)
I mean FFS has the ave news reporter seen Aerials in Wavesailing by windsurfers, make that hyped up news stuff look lame, but I suppose wsurf aint cool anymore, and all those amazing aerials on windsurfers either goes unreported or unnoticed
Oh well doesnt stop us appreciating and enjoying
Windsurfing? That's with the kites and strings isn't it? Man! They can do some big jumps on those things!
Kelly had a dummy spit after he got out of the water after winning the event for like 7 times in a row. He is a tosser .
, (This is not about bagging surfing or Kelly, but about the invisability of windsurfing) Oh well doesnt stop us appreciating and enjoying But Siver just does my head in...
Don't know how accurate the figures below are but even if they are half right says alot....the industry really needs to take a good look how surfing has evolved and markets itself and maybe then the sport can become more mainstream.
What sort of money does an average pro windsurfer earn? discount on boards & sails?
Even today, with the global surfing industry worth close to $20 billion and with an estimated 2.5 million surfers in Australia.http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/32102.html
As far as top ranked WCT pro surfer incomes are concerned, while there are a few pulling down amounts close to or in excess of a million dollars per annum, the majority of top 20-30 pros are earning somewhere between $250-400,000.
www.surfline.com/community/whoknows/whoknows.cfm?id=1042
You cant be serious can you? comparing windsurfing / windsurfers to a ten time world champion surfer? He does it all with only the power of the wave beneath him not the wind?
Go to the butcher and get some brains
oh well off to the Butchers forya, and ask for pig's brain might suit your manners
I personally think surfers aerials are more impressive than a windsurfer's
A windsurfing aerial is the equivalent of a motorcycle trick jump ie powered up charging out hit the ramp, flicky-spinny-loopy-thing and land or crash, which in itself is impressive in it's own right.
But a surfer is only using the energy of the wave generated whilst on the wave face to get their launch to do their flicky-spinny-loopy-thing a,d then land back on the same wave.
The reason why surfing is covered in the mass media is market interest.
Forgetting the second hand market, anyone can go out and buy a surf board and leg rope for $600-$800 and go out and surf, windsurfers pay more than that just for a singular sail, so straight away there are huge money constraints.
Kids can ride to the beach with their surfboard under their arm or on the back of their bike, try that with a windsurfing set up, hence why it's easier for kids to take up kiting, so you've eliminated that market.
Not everybody appreciates a windy ****ty winters day down the beach.
How much windsurfing apparel and accessories is there out there? 2/5ths of FLICK all, where as surfing 4/5's of surf shops are actually clothing and accessories shops with a lonely surfboard stuck in the window. This clothing and accessories market is FLICKEN huge, this brings in advertising dollars.
How many printed Windsurfing magazines are there now on the shelf? Why aren't there any? Because they are not economically viable, things can be blamed on the interwebby, but the reality is that windsurfing is a small market.
Now why do they put so much, Surfing, Aerial ping pong, rugby, car racing, Kiting and synchronized swimming at the Olympics on and not windsurfing, the simple answer is $'s, the TV stations can sell lots of advertising for all of these.
Don't ever make the mistake TV stations put shows on for our benifit, they only put them on so they can sell advertising, the more popular the show then higher price they can sell the 30sec spot for.
The cold hard reality is that only windsurfers are interested in windsurfing on the tv (provided the winds not blowing) nobody else gives a sh1t
Re windsurfing compared to surfing
As Mark Angulo once said.....
'I don't care if the surfing world ever thinks windsurfing is cool or not. That means nothing to me. All I know is that I can do huge back flips over barrelling sections and land right in the pit 30 feet down the line. To me that is my surfing world!'
I'm going too stick my neck out & say am sick of football on the news every night its good to see some surfing on the news these days coming from a surfing background after growing up in Cronulla Sydney in the 80s there was never any surfing on the news then so maybe given time windsurfing might make the news at times but maybe not because its all about money not just what some of us like to see shown on TV.
Its very sad too see other sports like lifesaving only make the news at sad times like went that boy drowned. Sports like football mostly but not only encourage people too become couch potato's lucky for us we chose windsurfing hey.
So how did he keep the surfboard at his feet without footstraps? That's the crux of the trick, must take some practice.
A comparison of surfing and windsurfing, (or for that matter Kite surfing) is not relevant. On so many levels they are not even in the same ball park:
-Participation
-Cost of equipment
-Where you can do it
-The type of skill required
-Sponsorship
-Media coverage
My mantra is enjoy what you do, what ever it is and admire skill and application in any sporting endevour.
Pissing competitions are for people who can't do it or who don't try
A great move from Kelly, however, comp surfing has lost the plot if one aerial can score a 10.
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFTT,apples and oranges.Slater has year after year performed at a level noone has met.Forsure there are some windsurfers who do some awesome stuff,but have they been crowned 11 x WORLD CHAMPION? no
Wait. That was it? I understand this was in a competition, a final no less, but I don't understand the hype.
truth is abouth ability to participate.10y.o. kid can ride to the beach,borrow a surfboard and he is surfing.Windsurfing cost how much just to get on the water?
If you are fortunate enought to have the $$$$ to do that you need a car to get you to the water with all the gear.Then you have to deal with conditions,not enought wind? wrong wind and hidding your new gear from your wife?etc.Windsuring is a baby in nappies compared to surfing.In 50 years the world may just be as astounded by windsurfing as they are by surfing.apples and oranges.
My 2x bobs worth,like it or not
Personally I think a lot of the aerials in surfing look a bit 'lame' i.e. they look like poor imitations of skateboarding or snowboarding aerials (this perceived 'lameness' obviously comes from the fact that waves and landings are 'random' and the riders don't have foot straps to control the board. When it comes to aerials and down the line action I think windsurfing is more elegant, so in my opinion aerial action does look far superior for windsurfers.
I'm not taking anything away from the grace and majesty of surfing and I think in this instance the media/public are only gaga over Kelly because he did the trick in the final - bit like someone doing a triple forward in a windsurfing final.
I'd be interested to hear a pro surfer critique a pro windsurfer in terms of their view on wave riding, aerials etc.
We are not talking about accessability or cost. Or how hard it is to do aerials with no wind power.
Reading Hardie's post, we are talking what is best to watch, and wavesailing is better to watch.
The couch potatoes who can't even float in a swimming pool go ooohh and aaahhh over wavesailing footage more than they do surfing.
Surfing has just been lucky to get the sponsorship $$$$ and clothing brands etc so it is on TV.
If windsurfing existed first and then surfing came 30yrs later it would be the other way around.
Flip side is we are proud to do something, rather than grow dreads and wear a Billabong hoodie to try and look the part. There are a sh!tload of pretenders who claim to surf.
Now surfing a bit myself I also hold with apples and oranges. For me the decider is though that surfers do generate all power for their tricks themselfs windsurfers do have the benefit of ,well wind.
So I reckon surfers win, hands down
